Paul Oliver Brock was wrongfully convicted.
Truth
February 17, 2018: It was late in the evening and was dark by then and very cold and damp from the rain that had fallen that day. My husband Roger and I were sitting at the dining room table and our daughter was on the couch talking on the phone with her friend when we saw headlights through the living-room window and heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. My oldest son Paul walked up on the back porch and opened the door just enough to ask my husband, his stepdad, to come outside. I didn’t think much about it, I kind of thought it was a guy thing like car trouble or something. A few minutes later Roger walked through the door with an odd look on his face and said Paul killed a man. I thought he was just messing with me because he had drank a few beers and his sense of humor can be a little strange. But he didn’t smile, he just stared at me. I hurried out on the porch to find out that it was really true. Paul said, “I’m sorry Mommy, he tried to kill me”. Paul just stood there looking at me waiting for me to speak but all that was on my mind was to grab him by the hand and run, find somewhere to hide, and protect him.
My firstborn son who stands at least a foot taller than me was crying and hugging me just like he did when he was a little boy and needed me to make everything alright, but I didn’t even know where to start. I was feeling something that I hadn’t felt before in my whole life. Nothing that I had ever been through could compare to this. The way I felt when Paul told me what happened between himself and Aaron “Bigs” was like being separated from life and all that was real, like a nightmare where you’re trying to run but the ground is sinking in with every step. Paul started telling me how he and Bigs were fighting in his small truck, he was raising his arms to show how he tried to block the punches. He said he didn’t understand why Bigs was mad, he said he hadn’t said or done anything except to tell him that he wanted to go home.
It was very cold outside so I had him to come into the house and we went into the basem*nt because I didn’t want his little sister, who was only twelve years old at that time, to hear anything else. Once we were in the basem*nt, Paul again said he didn’t know why Bigs had gotten so mad. He said “I didn’t say anything to make him so mad” and then he repeated several times, “he tried to kill me”. I hugged him, I didn’t know what to say, I tried to think but nothing made any sense and I couldn’t find the right words. Paul started crying again and just hugged me so tight as if he was afraid to let me go. He fell to his knees and took me right down with him onto that cold concrete floor. We just knelt there for some time, both of us crying, not able to talk. I remember saying “it will be OK”. But nothing was going to be OK.
After a long while, I told him I would fix him something to eat and make some coffee. I could smell beer on his breath and he seemed to be very tired. I asked him when was the last time he’d slept and he said he’d been driving a lot and was worn out. We went back upstairs and Paul sat at the table with Roger while I made a quick meal and a pot of coffee. I had my daughter go upstairs to her room so she couldn’t hear anything that might be said. But Paul just sat there not saying anything except “I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what I’m going to do”. After a few minutes he looked up from staring at his coffee cup and started talking about how loud the gunshots sounded inside his truck, he said, “I couldn’t hear anything for a while, just the sound of my heart beating in my head”.
Paul drank his coffee and ate a few bites then stood up and said he needed to get Tammi’s car back to her. None of us had any idea what was in front of us but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I told him that we’d figure it out and I walked out on the porch with him. He hugged me again and said, “I love you, Mommy, I’m sorry.” I said, “I love you too”. As he walked off the steps I said, “Son don’t you think you should call the police?” Paul just kind of turned his head and looked at me with the most heartbroken look in his eyes and slightly nodded.
Paul Oliver left my house that evening and I didn’t see him any more until we had a jail visit separated by glass.
That next morning I got a call from Tammi, Paul’s wife who told me that he had been taken in for questioning by the police. She said that some women had been shot and killed there in Corbin and that a man, the grandson of one of the victims, said that it was a guy named Paul. Justin, the grandson, told the police that he was in his bedroom and had heard someone come into the house and was talking to his sister. He said he heard a loud noise that sounded like firecrackers and then heard his sister say, “You shot me.” Justin told the police that he jumped out his bedroom window to go for help. This man’s story gets bigger as time goes on.
The next day, February 18th, 2018, the body of Bigs was found covered up with brush and leaves at a cemetery near the property belonging to Paul.
On March 9th, 2018 a motion made by the commonwealth to have Paul give various blood samples for DNA examination was ordered for the purpose of either excluding him as a contributor or identifying him as a contributor. This sample would either lead to inculpatory or exculpatory evidence which was meant to be of importance in order to procure a fair resolution of this matter. It did not. Also in this investigation, there were samples taken from the deceased as well such as the fingernail clippings that were sent to the forensics laboratory in Frankfort, KY.
April 16th, 2018: My son, Paul Brock was indicted for three counts of murder, one count of fetal homicide due to Tiffany Byers being pregnant, and one count of tampering with physical evidence. Paul was also charged with being a persistent felony offender but that charge was later dropped because Paul had already taken care of that. He was discharged from Parole for these offenses on December 14, 2012.
April 17th, 2018: Paul appeared in court with a public defender and entered his plea of not guilty. Paul later came to court with his lawyer to question the lead detective in the case. I sat a few seats back and watched the beginning of this atrocious, farce of a trial. The lawyer asked the detective about Justin Collin stating that he heard his sister say “Paul you shot me”. The lawyer asked if the detective thought that she could have said “Awe you shot me? The detective repeated what Collin’s had told him.
This first public defender had to drop the case due to health issues. So for twelve months or more, my son waited in jail for a new lawyer. No one was able to go his bail because it was set at 1.5 million dollars.
In April 2019, Paul was given new counsel from the Department of Public Advocacy and she and her team were assigned to his case and worked with him throughout the next three years. One of the first things that his lawyer did was file their motion to obtain what is called discovery. Some of the files were evidence found at the scene, witness statements, GSR sample results taken from Justin, and Paul’s statement to the police. They were given video recordings of Paul talking to the police detective investigating this case, who incidentally had just recently acquired that title and this was his first case being the lead detective.
I was able to watch the video recording of my son during his police questioning and could hear and see the effects of intoxication throughout the whole interview. He was given a copy of the Miranda Rights that he was allowed to sign away while exhausted and intoxicated. His speech was slurred, he would deviate from the topic, and he asked many times what day it was. Then nearly 30 minutes into the questioning, well after it was clear that he had been found to be a suspect in the two murders that had occurred the previous day, Paul responded to one of the police officer’s questions by asking “What has yesterday got to do with anything?” he continued to talk about making homemade baby food for his
grandson, omega 3 fatty acids, and other non-relevant subjects. It was as if he was having a conversation with his neighbor.
After a while, the detective began to show him pictures of the deceased and Paul began to cry and handed the pictures back to the detective and stated, “Don’t show me no more of these please”. The detective then replied, “I’m going to show you one more picture here, OK?’ Paul responded, “Man, you keep showing me these pictures, I don’t want to see people hurt, what good’s it do?” Later in the interview, Paul became upset and asked what kind of a coward would jump out of a window when someone is killing their granny. At that point, he had been told about Justin’s statement about jumping out a window to go for help.
Before long his lawyer began what is called the mitigation process. She added to her team a mitigation specialist and together came to my house to ask questions and dig through Paul’s past along with his brother Michael and several other members of our family. I was asked to provide pictures and other memorabilia that I had kept through the years. We were asked to talk about the past relating to my second marriage to a man that was abusive to me and whom I had not talked about in over 30 years. This was horrible for me and my sons. I had not told my daughter about this person and she had to be told at the age of 15 years. I had planned on waiting until she was much older. But that plan had to change because it was possible that before sentencing I would have to tell the jury about him. My sons on the other hand were witness to his cruelty and as little boys would try to stand up to him and make him stop. I remember Paul grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the door while that man pulled me toward him while he was hurting my arm and Michael screaming for him to leave me alone. There were many horrible times before I left but a couple stands out in my and my son’s minds such as when this devil was arguing with me and Paul hit him with a ball bat. Take note that my boys were only 7 and 5 years old at this time. They remember him pouring hot water on me to wake me up. The day we left that person to the past was when he kicked me in the chest and then choked me until I passed out. I held my breath and prayed that if I died that God would take care of my children. I know now that my God sent these friends of his to our house to get him to look at their car. He walked off the hill and me and the boys ran up to my Grandparents’ house and hid under Grandma’s bed while they called the police and called my parents who lived in Barbourville at that time. Daddy showed up first and I can’t remember if the police ever came. But we lived in Leslie County and the police were not fond of coming out to investigate domestic disputes back in those days, especially up Middlefork. I was only married to that person for less than a year but the impact on me and my children will last forever. Since then my sons have been very protective of not only me but every woman in their lives and sensitive to other women who are abused.
Paul Oliver has been diagnosed with PTSD related to several incidents that have happened throughout his life, the first being witness to the cruelty of my ex-husband, and when he was only 15 years old had witnessed the suicide of a long-time family friend who shot himself with a shotgun. Paul had stayed the weekend with his uncle and the friend who shot himself was staying there at the house too. The friend had been talking a lot about killing himself for quite some time and nothing Paul’s uncle could say seem to help him. Paul saw this guy named Richard take a shotgun outside and walk behind one of the outbuildings on the property. Paul said that he started to walk up the field where his uncle was at to tell him what Richard was doing but thought he would be too late to stop Richard. So he walked out to the building just in time to see his old friend pull the trigger and see the smoke and blood. I was called to the house to see my son standing there with tear-stained eyes and shaking his head. The police were there questioning Paul and his uncle and when Paul started to walk toward me the officer grabbed his jacket and wouldn’t let him. I had to stay my distance until after they did the gunshot test. Me, Roger, and Paul's younger brother Michael drove to the sheriff’s department to wait for the questioning to be over. I remember trying to talk to my son about his feelings and we sat on the steps for the longest time but he wasn’t able to say very much at all. I later learned that his uncle gave him a Xanax to calm his nerves. His uncle did not realize that it was not what Paul needed at all. He has also been through horrible vehicle crashes that caused head trauma and spinal injuries that lead to his back surgeries and prolonged pain medication use. My son has had so much heartache and physical pain but has never been the cause of anyone being hurt until Aaron Byers’ tried to kill him.
Paul’s lawyers obtained hospital records of one of the victims who was Aaron Byers’ wife where she had been abused many times and was pregnant on at least one occasion. Numerous 911 calls were made from the resident of Ms. Byers related to domestic violence. Her autopsy photographs showed multiple bruises in different healing stages. Paul had stated that she had shown him bruises on her arms and had confided in him of Bigs’ abusiveness toward her.
Paul Brock has no history of violence but Justin and Aaron do.
The Commonwealth did not send the pants belonging to Aaron “Bigs” to the forensics lab to be tested for blood spatter or the bloody footprint that the police department photographed. They kept the pants to compare them to a square piece of cloth found in the back of Paul’s truck for the jury to see. Even though Paul had already stated that he had killed Bigs in self-defense. All the prosecution’s evidence and witnesses’ testimonys pointed to the death of Bigs, nothing pointing to the deaths of Mary or Tiffany except a guy named Justin who is at this time in prison himself for charges of drugs and guns. A guy who not long after the deaths of his family, attempted to hijack a man’s car at knife-point with the intent of taking it to a chop shop in northern KY to sell for drugs to bring back to Whitley County. He was later arrested for his involvement in a large drug and gun operation and then turned state evidence to reduce his own prison time. By the way, Justin’s sentence had been decreased prior to Paul’s trial. This witness seems to be the kind of person that will say anything that the authorities want just to shave time off his own sentence. Furthermore, his testimony of saying he heard his sister say, “Paul you shot me” should have been excluded in the trial based on it being hearsay. But it was not. That motion was overruled just like so many other motions.
All that the police department and commonwealth sent to the forensics lab were the victim’s fingernail clipping, a rope and come-a-long found in Paul’s truck, and Paul’s pants and shoes and the back seat cushion of Paul’s truck. The rope or come-a long did not have blood on them, Paul’s clothes and one of his shoes did have blood on them and it belonged to Bigs, the man who was in Paul’s words, beating the hell out of him, and then tried to shoot him after pulling a gun out of his hoodie pocket.
Justin Collins, the prosecution’s so-called eye witness, who did not see who shot his grandmother or sister, stated he jumped head first out of a 7-foot high-from-the-ground bedroom window, that only raised to a height of 19 inches, and landed on his feet in the wet, slick, grass. Now I really would like to see him reenact that cat-like stunt. In Collin’s interview with the police, he was wearing a bright white Nike t-shirt and clean pants. No mud or water anywhere on his person. How is that possible after jumping out a window on a rainy, muddy day? He stated that he ran to a neighbor’s house to get help on that rainy day but somehow managed to stay dry. Justin also told the police that he had to break the glass window in the door to get back inside after he got back from the neighbor’s house. He expected the police to believe that someone who had just killed two people and ransacked the house would be thoughtful enough to lock the door behind them. But I suppose the police really didn’t care enough to think about that statement or any of Collin’s statements, they just wanted an arrest.
Aaron’s DNA was found under Mary’s right-hand fingernails, the same right side that she was hit in the head and shot at close range. Did DNA get there perhaps while trying to stop the real killer from hitting her? No one else had anybody’s DNA under their fingernail clippings. The same DNA results that the prosecutor kept to himself for a few days, until after Paul had a meeting with a mediation judge where Paul was encouraged by all sides to take a 70-year plea bargain. Paul told his lawyers that this is his “Valley Forge”, in reference to a period of time during the Revolutionary War, and begged them not to give up and tried to rally their fighting spirit on his behalf. Many times over many months, his lawyers tried to get him to take a plea bargain. After the meeting with the mediation judge, his lawyers tried again to get him to accept defeat. Later that day he signed the plea bargain. That stopped the first trial that had barely gotten started. But when the sentencing hearing day came Paul got his grit back and tore up the agreement right there in the courtroom. The prosecutor then with the flamboyancy of a daytime drama actor, waved the agreement in front of the court and tore up his copy, and stated that it would be the last time he offered a plea bargain. He later offered another plea deal which Paul turned down because he did not want to say that he killed those women just to get a deal. Once again, just before the trial began the prosecutor offered an Alford plea deal giving Paul 70 years for killing Aaron while being able to deny the murders of Mary and Tiffany, a plea that during the trial he turned down because Paul knew that all the scientific evidence, scientific facts, and witness testimony made it extremely evident that Aaron, AKA “ Big Pun” is the true killer of those women.
Paul Oliver, my firstborn son, looked at me with his eyes full of hope, while trying not to hope and stated “I don’t know how I can lose but I don’t know how I can win”. I answered him by saying “God ain’t done”. So he kept his hope in check and went on with the trial.
There were several witnesses for the defense, one testified that the grandmother had made Byers and his wife, her granddaughter, move out because she didn’t like colored people, and that statement was struck out because of hearsay. He also stated that the night before the killings he had taken them to the theater and got a call from Tiffany asking him to come back and get them because they were arguing. Another witness testified that Aaron Byers carried a gun, but no one was listening. Another witness, an old man named Dale told the court that Paul had come by his house many times and also on the day of the killings. He told the jury that Paul was “One of the best fellers that he knowed.” The police had questioned this man because he lived down below Paul’s property. They questioned him on the time that he saw Paul last. He wasn’t sure of the time but said between 11:00a.m and 1:00 pm. Paul’s wife Tammi had already told the police on video that Paul had come to her work that morning and borrowed her car. But the police ignored her and she didn’t get to testify. Once again, no one was listening. Her testimony would have been relevant because Paul’s truck wasn’t in good enough condition to run to Richmond. She also could have testified how the police were talking and laughing about how high Paul was while they were at her house searching for evidence, which by the way, none was found. No video from body cameras was available for the defense from that home search either. It was after they got back and he gave her back her car and got his truck that Paul and Bigs went to Mikey’s and then later to Bigs’ house.
Paul’s lawyer had a man named Dr. Nelson who has 25 years of Forensic Clinical Pharmacologic and Toxicologic Consulting Experience, professor of clinical pharmacology, experience in hundreds of civil and criminal cases, plus expertise in the forensic aspects of blood alcohol, impairment, performance, metabolism, alcohol in body tissues, drug/alcohol interactions, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of alcohol and drugs. This outstanding doctor came all the way from Cincinnati Ohio to witness for my son on the effects of the drugs that Paul had told him he had taken and Paul’s actions and speech during Paul’s interrogation by the police were characteristic of the effects of those drugs. Paul had taken suboxone, Xanax, and the prescribed hydrocodone that he took for his previous back surgery. This same doctor testified by using Zoom during the jury trial on the effects of all the drugs that were found in Aaron Byers’ system and stated that one of the drugs, methamphetamine, may cause symptoms that can include significant anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior. Byers had several different drugs in his system. So did his wife as shown in open court.
The prosecution’s other witness a man that his friends call Mikey, had his legal charges completely dropped, he got a free motel room, and gas money to come back from Arizona and testify against Paul. But his testimony had nothing to do with the deaths of the two women, only Bigs. His testimony was so apparently scripted but no one was listening. Another witness who was the guy from Arizona’s cousin only repeated what his cousin had said, which was that Paul came to their house to borrow a gun and then later brought it back. Strange that neither one of them knew exactly where the gun was after all that. Apparently, no one cared. No one was listening. The jury had already been shown the horrific pictures of the two dead women and an unborn baby. The prosecution played his part well. Visualization is more powerful than hearing.
Recap: All that the police department and commonwealth sent to the forensics lab were the victim’s fingernail clipping, a rope, and come-a-long found in Paul’s truck, Paul’s pants and shoes, and the back seat cushion of Paul’s truck. The rope or come-along did not have blood on them, Paul’s clothes and shoes did have blood on them and the blood belonged to Bigs, the man who was in Paul’s words beating the hell out of him and then tried to shoot him after pulling a gun out of his hoodie pocket. Paul’s truck did not have either of those women’s blood in it. The bloody footprint from the house where the women were killed was not his or he would have transferred the blood into his truck and their blood would have been on his shoes. So much scientific evidence and scientific facts, but no one was listening. No one seemed to be able to use common sense in this case. It was the strangest most shocking display of carelessness, not only concerning the jury but the police department is supposed to make sure that they do everything they can to find the truth. They did not.
They didn’t send the grandson’s clothes or shoes either. But of course, it was obvious that he, Justin, was wearing clean clothes. The police tested Justin’s hands for gunshot residue to eliminate him as a suspect. The lab results came back positive. The report stated that there were two particles of lead antimony on one of the lifts from his hands. These could be from firing a gun or handling an object with gunshot residue on it and/or being in the proximity of a discharging firearm. This guy had gunshot residue on his hand but that was conveniently and nicely swept under the rug. It is not my belief that he fired the fatal shots but it tells me just how poorly and unethically the police conducted this investigation. And how easy it was for him to lie. His lies and prior testimony of another case where he witnessed against someone and almost caused them to go to prison were brought before the jury. But no one was listening. It also proved to be a prelude to just how negligent and untrustworthy the detectives and commonwealth attorney proved to be throughout this investigation and trial.
All the rooms in the house where the murders occurred were rummaged through by someone except for Justin’s room. Wow. It seems as if someone was looking for drugs or money in the grandmother’s room and also the sister’s room and the kitchen but neglected to walk through Justin’s room to look for anything as if they knew nothing of interest was in his room.
Paul’s testimony: I’ll be paraphrasing. He stated that he had taken Bigs to Richmond to a drug dealer and had come back to Corbin and stopped at the guy from Arizona’s house whom Paul calls Mikey. That guy wasn’t home so they drove around for a while and then went to Bigs’ house. Paul said he went inside with him and briefly spoke to the grandmother and went on into Bigs’ and Tiffany’s room to smoke a joint. He said he was only in there for a short time when Tiffany and Aaron started arguing, he said that it seemed that Tiffany was trying to be nice to Bigs but that he was in a bad mood. Then she started arguing back. Paul said he got up to leave, he didn’t want to hear it. Bigs then said he was going with him. Paul said he went on out to his truck and continued to smoke the joint and had the radio on waiting for Byers to come out. He said that when he did come out she came out too and it looked like she threw something at him and Bigs flinched. Paul said Bigs went back into the house after her and didn’t come out for a few minutes. He said when Byers did come back out that he had an odd look on his face and told Paul to go. After going a little way down the road, Byers tried to get Paul to take him back to Richmond. Paul told him he was tired and didn’t feel like driving back up there.
Paul said that Byers kept on trying to get him to take him to Richmond and that Byers was getting more agitated. Paul said he pulled over to the side of the road in a spot barely big enough to get his small truck off the road and told Byers to get out. Byers refused and Paul then reached across him and opened the passenger door. Paul said Byers shut it back and Paul then started to get out of his truck saying I’ll put you out, and that is when Byers started hitting him. Paul said that Bigs kept hitting him and the truck was so small that he could barely turn sideways to try to block his punches. He said he grabbed Byers and tried to hold him closer to him so that he couldn’t hit so hard. Byers left a pump knot on the right side of Paul’s forehead that was obvious in his mug shot. Paul stated that Bigs pulled a gun out of his hoodie pocket and tried to shoot him but Paul was able to wrestle the gun away and he shot Bigs instead.
Paul said he got out of his truck threw up and walked around his truck for a while, got back in, and drove around talking and screaming at Bigs. After a time he drove up to the cemetery close to his land and pulled Bigs from his truck and left him there. He went home and got his wife’s car and that is when he came to my house. After he left he went to Mikey the guy who moved to Arizona’s house and this guy help him to move Bigs’ body and hide it in a shallow grave covered with brush. Incidentally, Paul gave Mikey the bus fair to get to Arizona after this guy helped him hide Bigs. By this time Paul said that he took several Xanax that Bigs had gotten in Richmond that day in hopes of calming down. He then took Mikey home and went home to try and rest and think. He just wanted to go home. By this time it was February 18, 2018. Later that morning he was shown by his wife on Facebook about the murders of the women on Elison Street. Not long afterward he was riding to Tammi’s work with her and was going to use her car when the police pulled them over and took him in for questioning. Paul apologized during the trial to Aaron Byers’ family. He fought back tears throughout his testimony. This was tormenting me so much because I know my son, I know how big his heart is. Everyone that knows him has said they do not believe he could kill anyone unless they were trying to kill him. That is still called self-defense. No history of violence. He is the kind of man that has saved the lives of wild animals and their babies. He is the guy that saved the guy from Arizona and his cousin from being robbed and possibly killed on a night when someone was breaking into their house. The same guy named Mikey that turned on him when he saw a chance to get himself out of trouble. This incident was brought up in court. Neither of these witnesses denied it but still lied in court to save their own skin.
Paul is guilty of tampering with physical evidence but he is not guilty of murder. This was proven in so many ways. But no one was listening.
Empathy for the families of course. No one should have to be so heartbroken. I truly forgive everyone involved and I wish them peace.
That said and meant from the depths of my spirit. Still, I have never seen such blatant carelessness regarding the truth and humanity. The truth is that my son Paul would be the one dead and Aaron Byers would have been in prison if he had not been able to wrestle the gun from Aaron.
I will not stop fighting for my son. “The truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light”. George Washington.
The jury heard the truth and they ignored it. They heard about a witness’ coercion by their felony charges being dropped and one guy’s time in prison being decreased. They heard that these men could not change their statements without losing their deals. They heard canards from the prosecution that the commonwealth attorney decided in his own mind what might have happened, with no proof at all to connect his assumption to the truth. This was made even more apparent when in his closing argument he said “evidence don’t matter, witnesses do”.
When the box of juror numbers was passed to the judge the only two numbers to be excused from the remainder of the trial because there were 14 and the court only needed 12, were a woman who was nodding in agreement when Paul was testifying and the other was a woman who kept looking over at me and then later stated that she believed that Byers had killed those women and told that the jury had a preconceived guilty verdict before the trial began. Odd how those two were the ones taken off the jury. So now let the appeals begin. I promise on my last breath that Paul’s freedom did not end on that last day of his farce of a trial. Because when God’s warriors go down on their knees, the battle is not over. The battle has just begun. Amen
Sincerely
His Mother
Mary Asher
